


Just Close Your Eyes (The Sun Is Going Down)

by all_things_olicity



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, I always wanted a scene of her holding the sky, Missing Scene, annabeth chase is a badass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:01:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24913540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_things_olicity/pseuds/all_things_olicity
Summary: "Please Percy, wherever you are, please come find me."Or the one where Annabeth is trapped under the weight of the sky and tries to think of anything but how much pain she's in.
Kudos: 30





	Just Close Your Eyes (The Sun Is Going Down)

Pain. 

That was Annabeth's first thought as she came to her senses. Her knees were sore from kneeling on the hard ground, her hands had cramped with the weight of the sky, and her shoulders felt like they were being fused to her spine from the constant pressure. She realized she must have blacked out from exertion and her arms had started to slip under the crushing weight. Quickly adjusting herself, she blinked to clear her vision and let the memories of how everything had fallen apart play out in her head. 

The two half-bloods at Westover Hall she and Percy had been tasked with bringing back to camp, Nico and Bianca. Dancing with Percy. Something called Mythomagic. Realizing Nico and Bianca had left the ballroom and frantically searching for them. Charging the manticore. Falling over the side of the cliff while Percy screamed her name. 

She had vague memories of travelling across the country but there were large gaps in time where she must have been unconscious. She remembered being thrown down in the grass at Luke's feet while he held the sky. His face had been contorted in pain as he desperately pleaded with her. 

'Please, Annabeth. Please, I can’t hold it. You’re stronger than me, you could hold it. Just for a minute, I promise. I just need to breathe. Please, I don't know how much longer I can do this.'

In the end, it was the tears in his eyes that made her take the sky from him. Piercingly blue and so full of pain and sincerity. She should've known it was a trick, a ploy to trap her under a burden that didn't belong to her, but she still clung to the hope that there was some remnant of the boy she used to know. 

As soon as she’d taken the sky from him, his face lost any trace of warmth. His lips twisted into a sneer, his scar ghastly pale in the dense fog, his eyes only showing disgust. Nothing remained of the boy who had given her her dagger and taught her how to defend herself with it. 

Annabeth felt tears well up in her eyes and spill over her lashes as her memories played like a movie in her mind. She hated crying, hated any show of weakness. She’d let her emotions get in the way and she silently cursed herself. She was a daughter of Athena for gods sake! She was supposed to be better than this. She wasn’t supposed to let anything cloud her judgement - least of all her emotions. Her mind was her most powerful weapon. Luke knew he was a weak spot for her, a chink in her armor, and he had wielded that against her expertly. He’d used her like a tool, like she meant nothing to him, and that hurt more than she wanted to admit. 

Pulling herself from her thoughts, Annabeth tried to move her fingers against the unforgiving weight above her head. Her hands had gone from cramped to tingling and the sensation was making its way down her arms. She knew that wasn’t a good sign but couldn’t do anything to make it better. She had no idea how much time had passed since she took the sky from Luke. 

It was so heavy. Her arms shook and burned and she wanted nothing more than to let them drop to her sides. But she couldn't let them fall. She couldn’t give up. Annabeth thought of Percy screaming for her as she fell over the cliff and her heart gave a painful twinge. She wished more than anything for him to be here with her. His presence brought a sense of security and comfort and she knew without a doubt he would always have her back. Just like she would always have his. Still, Annabeth knew in her bones he was looking for her. They had become best friends after their quest to the sea of monsters last year, and Percy would never just accept that she was missing. He was probably causing all sorts of havoc trying to find her. 

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying anything to ease the worsening pain. She could do this. She needed to do this. She was Annabeth Chase gods damn it, she had been training almost her whole life to be out on a quest. She felt the cool wind on her face and the grass beneath her knees. She thought of her friends back at camp, the sweet smell of the strawberry fields, the sound of a Friday night sing-a-long by the campfire. Anything but the swirling mass of clouds fighting against her, pushing her arms down, down, down, desperately trying to meet the ground. 

"Please, Percy, wherever you are, please come help me," she whispered into the fog. 

Annabeth’s head snapped up suddenly as she heard a rustling in the foliage behind her.

“Percy?” she called softly. . 

No, it couldn’t be Percy. He wouldn’t sneak through underbrush if he saw her in pain. He would jump headfirst into danger to save a friend, even if it meant his own demise. She knew him well enough to know that.

Her eyes strained to catch a glimpse of who could be approaching as she tried to keep herself from panicking. She was in an open field among ruins, defenseless with her arms raised above her head, completely trapped until somebody else took the burden of the sky from her. 

Annabeth was trembling now, her body shaking under the strain of holding the sky up. Her breathing became uneven and labored and stars danced before her eyes. She didn't know how much longer she could hold on without being crushed, but she couldn't afford to show weakness. Her pride wouldn't allow it. Putting on the bravest face she could muster, Annabeth took a deep breath and called out, "Who's there?” 

The bushes rustled again - closer now, like somebody was crawling out of them - and Annabeth had to restrain herself from whipping her head around to look. She was afraid if she tried to move too much, she would collapse under the weight. Instead, her call was met with silence and she fought back a scream of frustration at being so helpless. She needed a plan; Athena always, always had a plan, but how could somebody plan for this? For the first time, Annabeth couldn’t see a way out of her predicament. Another pang shot through her chest at Percy’s absence. It had been a long time since she'd had to fight without him at her back and she hadn’t realized how much she relied on him for backup. 

Suddenly, a beautiful young woman stepped into Annabeth’s peripheral vision. She was slim but athletic. Annabeth couldn’t quite see clearly due to the fog, but it looked as though something silver glint just above the woman’s brow. The newcomer walked around the ruins on silent feet, quickly checking behind crumbling walls and overgrown brush. For what, Annabeth didn’t know; nobody had been to see her since she took the sky from Luke. The mystery woman didn’t appear to be armed but that provided little in the way of comfort. Most things Annabeth encountered didn’t need a weapon to be deadly. 

Annabeth tried again, "Who are you?”

The woman ignored her, continuing her search of the area like one would clear a room. Annabeth wished the woman would answer her. Her vision was getting worse and if it wasn’t for the silver on the woman’s head, Annabeth didn’t think she’d be able to see her at all. Her arms and back were screaming in agony and she sank to her ankles, too tired to remain on her knees. 

"What do you want with me?” Annabeth asked, trying to contain her desperation. The sky fell to her shoulders as her elbows bent so her hands were level with her ears. Annabeth’s eyes welled with tears once again as she realized she wasn’t going to make it out of this. 

Finishing her search, the woman turned to her and approached Annabeth with her hands raised. She acted like she was cornering a wounded animal as she crouched down in front of Annabeth and lifted her chin with her finger. Steady brown eyes met steel gray and all at once Annabeth knew this woman was not going to hurt her. 

"We don't have much time, but I'm here to help you," the woman said quietly, glancing over her shoulder as the wind rustled the branches of a nearby tree. 

Something about her seemed familiar, but Annabeth, dazed with pain, was too exhausted to figure it out. She had nothing left to give. Percy wasn't going to make it in time to save her. She was going to be crushed under this unfathomable weight. Despite her best efforts, more tears escaped, blurring her vision even further. She had never felt such all-consuming pain. What little she could see was tinged with red and her lungs couldn't seem to get enough air in them. 

The woman seemed to realize how much she was struggling and lifted her free hand to wipe some of the tears from Annabeth’s cheek. 

"Hush now, child. You've held this burden long enough." The woman moved to kneel beside Annabeth and extended her arms towards the sky. 

"Let go, Annabeth. You can rest now.” 

And as the weight of the world was lifted from Annabeth's shoulders, she finally allowed her exhaustion to overtake her and fell into a dreamless sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos feed my soul
> 
> Find me on tumblr @all-things-olicity


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